Osama declares decades of war on 'powerless' Obama

Published: Monday, September 14, 2009, 11:18 [IST]

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Islamabad, Sep 14 (ANI): Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has said that US President Barack Obama is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a transcript of a tape released by the terrorist organization's media wing.

Al Qaeda's As-Sahab Media released a video featuring a still image of Osama and audio statement entitled "A statement to the American people," said the organisation IntelCenter.

SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorist-monitoring firm that translated the address, says Osama blames the wars on the "pro-Israel lobby" and corporate interests.

IntelCenter, another company that monitors terrorist propaganda, reports that the 11-minute video is an address to the American people, two days after the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The group described the release as an address to the American public. Osama usually releases a statement around September or October each year, The Times reports.

In his last previous known message in June, Osama said US President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred" towards the United States in the Muslim world and warned of decades of conflict to come.

That audiotape aired on Qatar's Al-Jazeera news channel less than an hour after Obama landed in Saudi Arabia.

Obama "has followed the steps of his predecessor in antagonizing Muslims... and laying the foundation for long wars," Osama said in the June release, referring to deadly clashes in Pakistan between the US-backed government and Islamist militants.

"He gave his orders to (Pakistani President Asif Ali) Zardari and his army to prevent the people of Swat from applying Sharia (Islamic) law," he said.

"Obama and his administration have sowed new seeds of hatred against America. Let the American people prepare to harvest the crops of what the leaders of the White House plant in the next years and decades," said the Al-Qaeda leader. (ANI)